Man on the Moon

Released: 1999
Biography
Director: Milos Forman
Starring: Jim Carrey, Danny DeVito
Running Time: 118 minutes
Rated: R

The breakdown:
A film about the life of eccentric and ground-breaking actor/comedian, Andy Kaufman.

When you think about a formula for a successful movie, in this case a biographical movie, you have to consider one thing...Does the movie make you want to learn more about the main character?  If the answer is yes, then the movie's a success.

It's too bad that this movie did not get a larger audience or make more money because it was really well done.  I had no interest in seeing it.  I had no interest in learning more about Andy Kaufman, and personally I didn't think he was funny, but after seeing this film, I changed my mind.

Andy Kaufman was at the time a genius for coming up with a routine that no one else was doing, and he certainly was like no one else.  He grabbed people's attention and really never let go.  He blurred lines between himself and his characters so well, that almost no one knew the real person inside, and he fooled people so well, they didn't know what was real or faked.  He did it too well since when he did actually pass away in the 1980's even some of his close friends thought he had faked his own death and would come back to say he had fooled everyone with the biggest gag ever.

Basically, the movie shows Kaufman playing little gigs here and there for small audiences and getting some big attention.  He gets noticed by an agent that wants to represent him, and his new agent gets him on the first episode of Saturday Night Live.  He makes several appearances there and also plays to college campuses and gives other performances around the country.  When the television show Taxi got it's start after seeing Kaufman, the producers really wanted him on their show.  He agreed, but hated the idea of sitcoms, so after a very short time, he wanted off the show.  Eventually, Taxi was cancelled, but Kaufman continued to perform and cause lots of trouble.  Characters that made women angry like the only intergender wrestling champion of the world brought about a fake on-air fight live on David Letterman with Jerry Lawler that people thought was real for years.  Unfortunately, he died of a rare lung cancer though he lived a mostly healthy lifestyle after giving up small amounts of smoking as a young person.  Knowing what we know now about second hand smoke with him playing all those gigs in small bars where everyone smoked, maybe that helped it develop in him.

Jim Carrey did an excellent job and I see why he won a Golden Globe for it, though he should have been nominated for an Oscar in my opinion.  I actually was curious about someone I never liked after seeing a film about him, so to me, that's a successful biopic.

I say, see it if you haven't, even if you don't like Jim Carrey, or Andy Kaufman.

4 out of 5 for making me interested in someone I never even liked before.  I still don't think Andy's funny, but I see why so many people thought he was a genius.